The Greeks called it the “land of the purple”.
As early as the eighth Century BC, phoinix or purple was referred to the sea-faring merchants as Phoinekes — Phoenicians because of the valuable purple-red dye they produced. The term is never used by them. They were independent city-states of the region, using their names of their cities, like Tyre, Sidon or Byblos. Collectively, they called themselves the Semitic word Canaani (Canaanites).
The Greek name Phoenicia was the historic records of Greek and Roman scholars.
The ancient Phoenician city of Tyre (located in modern-day Lebanon) amassed vast wealth and fame, for the production of the Tyrian purple dye, a highly prized rare and expensive natural dye, extracted from tiny sea snails along the Mediterranean coast.
The artisans of Tyre fell upon the secret of the sea snails, turning their world to purple. By cracking open the shells, they discovered that the Murex snails, when exposed to sunlight and air, transformed into a breath-taking purple dye. Workers needed about 250,000 snails to yield just one ounce of usable dye. Although the process produced a notoriously foul smell, they were easy to forbear. As the Romans say pecunia non olet —money does not smell.
Tyrian purple was the ultimate luxury item of antiquity. Merchants sailed across the known world working their massive trade in purple textile and fabrics made the Phoenicians wealthy and built their maritime empire. Unlike other ancient dyes that faded, cracked or washed out, Tyrian purple fabric actually grew brighter and more vibrant with sunlight and age. The fabric was so astronomical in price, it became a strict status symbol. Rulers across Egypt, Persia, and the Mediterranean adopted it to project power. Roman emperors eventually made it a crime for ordinary citizens to wear the colour.
Through their mastery of the sea and this single precious snail, their coastal home forever became known to history as Phoenicia, land of the purple.
The Phoenicians are best known for creating the world’s finest, widely phonetic alphabet. They simplified the Egyptian symbols into a 22 consonant, phonetic alphabet. Canaanites did not fully understand the Egyptian hieroglyphs, but they needed a way to write their own language, so they gave the first sound of the symbol. For example: The Egyptian symbol of “house” would be beyt. Therefore, the symbol was only the first letter sound b, and would be the word for beyt.
The script became known as the Phoenician alphabet (1200-1000 BC). Its greatest contribution to the world was the root system that birthed the Greek, Latin, and modern European alphabets.
The Phoenicians were the master mariners of the known world, sailing as far as Britain and Carthage. They were renowned artisans, invented glassblowing, ivory carving, and metalwork. They supplied prized Lebanese cedar wood to major empires in Mesopotamia and Egypt, building temples and palaces.
Through their mastery of the sea and this single precious snail, their coastal home forever became known to history as Tyrian Purple, the signature colour of royalty, home of Phoenicia, land of the purple.
Once the jewel of the Phoenician coast, the powerful and proud city of Tyre (Sour) is caught in the crossfire of a bloody military attack, deliberately erasing its cultural legacy.
This ancient metropolis bustling with activity is one of the world’s continuously inhabited cities for over 4,700 years, now silent and empty. Unlike the ancient dyes that bleached in the sun, the bright purple is nowhere in sight. Over 1.2 million people have fled their homes to unknown places, away from bombardments and explosions, but there is no safe haven from the Israeli killers.
From imperial robes to shrouds of mourning, Lebanon and the world weep the epicenre of ancient luxury and royal identity.
Is it not recognised globally that the deliberate destruction of historic remains is classified as a war crime?
They hear, see, or understand the offences against humanity, unless they are human. The crime is crying “ceasefire” when they know there is none.
UNESCO is crying foul, threatened by the irreversible damage of Lebanon’s cultural landscape, but no cries are heeded.
Will the glorious city become a memory, or will the purple flag of Tyre, now buried under the rubble, rise and wave in the brilliance of the morning sun?
The answer is loud and clear: “Do not worry. Lebanon is the Phoenix who will never die.”
“Lebanon is an important beauty cultural heritage for this region and the world and if Lebanon didn’t exist, then it is our duty to create it.”
Nizar Qabbani (1923-1998)
* A version of this article appears in print in the 18 June, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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